1930s

33 Class Secretary — Katie Gorman Duffy ’95;

duffynd95@yahoo.com

36 Class Secretary — John Norton;

jwn176@aol.com

37 Memorable Experience

Robert Waldeck passed away on May 1. He was born in Ohio but moved to California after graduating from Notre Dame and started an international trade business that remains in his family. He was committed to golf, the Fighting Irish, and the Democratic Party throughout his life. Mr. Waldeck and Bernie Hartz supported the next generation of Domers by contributing to a trip that I took with five students from my school in New Orleans. We drove from New Orleans to Notre Dame during our fall break and toured the campus during the best time of year at ND, fall and football season. The kids loved getting a taste of the school spirit and community at Notre Dame, seeing leaves change, and enjoying a thrilling football game against UNC. Thanks to both 1937 classmates for making such a memorable experience possible. — Kathleen Coverick ’08; kathleen.coverick@gmail.com

38 In the News

The Wall Street Journal ran an article on Oct. 21 remembering a member of the Class of 1938. Headlined, “Reminder of a Big-Band Rebel,” the piece featured the late Thomas “Tommy” Shields. Tommy’s granddaughter inherited his ND class ring, and looks to it as a reminder to emulate her grandfather’s maverick ways. Tommy returned to New Rochelle NY after graduating, and rather than follow in the footsteps of the doctors and lawyers in his family, he cut his own path in the entertainment industry. He caught the attention of a certain Glenn Miller, talking Glenn and his orchestra into performing at the prom of Tommy’s old high school. Later, Tommy had a hand in Glenn getting his big break, by helping to get him hired at a nightclub that hosted a national radio show. So began a career of show-business management and promoting that led Tommy to work with others including Johnny Carson and Jimmy Dean. Thank you, Barry Branagan ’65, nephew of the late John Tobin, for keeping an eye on the news and writing to let me know about the article. — Meg Julian ’03, ’06JD; 6 Carriage Trail, Princeton NJ 08540; 646-246-5480; megjulian@gmail.com

39 The Way It Was

In my column for the spring 2012 issue, I reported on a Christmas card from Paul Tully that contained an 18-line poem describing his reactions as he and his wife Lynne settled into a new life in a Maplewood NJ retirement home. Well Paul hasn’t gone to seed there; his mind is as sharp as ever. Yesterday’s mail included a brand new 24-line piece of light verse he had written. This time the subject was reminiscent of how it was back in the day at Notre Dame. He has established a somewhat tricky metric pattern for each line: Da de Da de Da de Da. He continues it expertly to the end with rarely a rough spot. Here are the opening lines: “Daily Mass O’Hara Way/Breakfast Meatballs Start the Day/Meeting Friends From East to West/Studies Hard With Little Rest/Ride Men Served in Dining Hall/Big Time Football Every Fall.” He brings it all to a conclusion with: “ND Spirit on the Line/Hail the Class of Thirty Nine.” Paul’s professional career was spent in northern states, particularly New Jersey, but he and Lynne vacationed each winter in an area just west of Orlando FL. My wife and I would meet them frequently at the Florida Flings that were popular for many years. And much earlier, while we were still undergraduates, we would meet at formal dances put on during the Christmas vacation by New York City’s Metropolitan Club, Paul with Lynne as his date, I with Marion as mine. The story of my missing cousin took a giant step forward over the past weekend. To refresh memories, the cousin is Walter Donnelly ’58, the son of Walter Donnelly Sr. ’29, and the grandson of Judge James Donnelly, my father’s brother. The younger Walter happened to be browsing through a recent issue of Notre Dame Magazine and noticed a column I had written. He wondered if I could be the Willie Donnelly his father had mentioned years ago. He emailed me and found out I was. Several exchanges followed and on Friday, Oct. 31, he and his wife Rosemary drove over to Boca from Bradenton. We had a delightful time together filling in the many missing details, showing pictures, and just getting acquainted. We went out to dinner along with three members of my family from the area. Walter and Rosemary slept in my guest bedroom and after breakfast Saturday they took a leisurely trip home to make sure they wouldn’t miss the Navy game.— Bill Donnelly; 6152 Verde Trail N. Apt. D201, Boca Raton FL 33433 2412; 852 -561-9474; donnlywa@bellsouth.net